Main menu

You are here

Politician's Suicide Raises Questions About Unsealing Criminal Charge

The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle's Gary Craig has highlighted an interesting legal question in the wake of a state assemblyman's suicide. Bill Nojay committed suicide before a federal criminal charge against him was unsealed. Now what? Can that charge be made public even though the criminal defendant is dead?

One local attorney said that, under the First Amendment, a criminal charge against a public figure like Nojay should be unveiled. That hasn't happened yet, but the D&C is going to make that argument in federal court.

The D&C reports that Nojay may have allegedly taken money from an attorney client-trust account.